CN1020573C - A device for automatic positioning and feeding of containers - Google Patents

Abstract

The device of the invention comprises a main chute (2) for irregularly receiving the containers (1); a bottom (4) having a circumferential edge portion which is spaced from the side wall of the chute (2) at a distance so as to provide a space in which the container can fall by its weight into the lower part; a lateral opening (32) is provided on a lateral curved face (13) of the side wall of the chute in front of the container discharge position (14), which opening discharges, mainly by centrifugal force, only partially the containers loaded into the holding and conveying device (6) and misaligned containers projecting from the holding and conveying device (6) or placed outside the holding and conveying device (6) and conveyed by other containers, which opening is connected to an auxiliary recovery chute (15) outside the main chute, and a hinged belt conveyor (16) co-operates with the outer chute to circulate the containers into the loading zone in front of the lateral opening (32).

Description

The invention relates to a device for the automatic positioning and feeding of containers, which may be bottles or other cylindrical containers of different sizes and shapes made of synthetic In order to increase productivity, it is suitable for different equipment such as high-productivity filling equipment or similar equipment. Since a large number of containers can be correctly positioned and input at each time unit, the above-mentioned functions can be completed.

Generally known devices relevant to the present invention may include:

a) chutes of various shapes and sizes, which have openings for receiving loose containers, which are placed upside down on a floor whose edge is at a distance from the side walls of the chute, said chute providing space to allow the passage of the containers;

b) Devices providing movement within the closed system, which are arranged below the above-mentioned floor, which consist in whole or in part of:

- a number of clamping assemblies for separating the containers, movably mounted on the circumference of the device between the side edges of the device and the side walls of the chute; a series for receiving upside-down The groove of the container acts as a clamping assembly that clamps a part of the container, usually the neck, in this way to facilitate placing the container in a predetermined position, usually with the neck up;

- several discharge chutes placed under the grooves of the receiving and delivering containers exactly facing an external conveyor whose input is like that of a bottling line;

c) a plate or tray arranged below the above-mentioned groove and above the discharge chute, the height of which can be adjusted, when the container is conveyed under the action of the clamping assembly defining the receiving groove, the plate or disk is used for To support containers and keep them upside down, the plate or tray has an opening in the discharge area, when the container is moved to a position where it can be tipped over by the container gripping assembly, then fall from the aforementioned opening;

d) a device, such as an air jet, for generating a jet of air to push containers in an incorrect position such as bottles placed in an incorrect way or sticking out of a groove from the groove to the charge of the chute area, the device is set before the unloading area;

e) an air injection device in the discharge area that generates a jet of air to tilt the correctly positioned container in the recess and towards the discharge chute;

f) The air jets arranged behind the discharge area are used to discharge containers that cannot be discharged in the discharge area, eg obstructed containers, out of the chute.

The devices known to the applicant are classified as follows according to their completed functions:

a) Containers stand upright automatically

-Aidlin type (U.S.P-3,295,659) device comprising a chute into which the sorted containers or bottles are randomly placed, and an inclined shaft, an inclined plate forming the bottom of said chute and Rotating about the above-mentioned axis, the disk has openings on its circumference, each of which can accommodate a container and allow it to pass through, while gripping the neck of the container supported on the disk to transport the container from the receiving area to the In the discharge area, the fixed plane below the rotating disk and parallel to it supports the body of the container when they rotate, and there is a discharge port along the moving path of the container at the upper part of the plane. With the rotation of the disk, the container rests on its Gravity falls one by one in an upright state into a fixed chute or an inverted chute provided below the opening;

- devices of the Nalbach type (U.S.P-3,650,368 and U.S.P-4,865,181) consisting of an inclined annular rotating plate provided with a row of receiving recesses into which the bottles are placed in an inverted position, And it is positioned by an additional clamping part, which is used to clamp the neck of the bottle, and the ring plate keeps the bottle from a relatively The lower loading area is conveyed to the higher unloading area, while a lateral positioning plate supports the bottles during their rotation, the positioning plate has an opening in the upper part, so that the container falls by its gravity in an upright position set in said opening in the chute below;

b) Automatic adjustment of the container

- The Nalbach-type device described above comprises a number of chutes arranged on the drum below the bottom of the sump or chute and on the drum below the bottom of the gripper positioning plane, while an intermediate Positioning planes to prevent bottles from falling directly into the external conveyor;

c) Adaptation of the device to different shapes of containers

-Aidlin type device to change the rotating disc with many openings by means of a screw placed on its shaft to accommodate containers of various shapes and sizes;

- The Schindel type (U.S.P-4, 130, 194) device is an improvement on the Aidlin type device, that is, only the annular edge portion of the rotating disk needs to be replaced, has a circumferential opening to receive the container in an upside-down state, and eliminates the storage The circumferential part of the upper part of the groove;

-Marti type (U.S.P-4,681,209) device, in which the positioning mechanism of the container has several chutes arranged on the drum below the bottom of the chute integral with the rotating disk assembly, on which there are Recesses for receiving containers in an upside-down position, the carousel assembly consists of removable parts that can be replaced by replacement parts to accommodate the delivery of containers of different shapes and sizes, where the chute is also replaceable, It can be replaced by chutes of different sizes.

-Marti type device (U.S.P-4,928,808) discloses an automatic stacking table for sorting and positioning containers, comprising a chute with straight or slightly curved walls, a plurality of conveying devices, the device includes a few for receiving a single container Open grippers, and channels for receiving and positioning containers, said conveying device moves along a closed channel and is interconnected and drawn by flexible or hinged conveyor belts, it also includes a set of grippers and An adjustable shelf between the channels for supporting the containers until they reach a release position where they drop through openings in the shelf, said grippers and channels are also replaceable to accommodate different shapes and dimensions of the container.

It will be appreciated that an important feature of devices of the above character is that the overall productivity directly depends on reliable operation, thanks to the fact that these automatic devices are equipped with control and/or safety elements which allow immediate detection of the state of the containers (unsatisfactory surface finish, Irregular shape, etc.), defects in the positioning of containers in the conveying equipment of the installation. The displaced container is pushed back to the tank or to the filling place by suitable means such as a spraying device connected to a corresponding source of compressed air, as described in European patent EP-85,106,953.4. The spraying device combined with a conveyor belt with attachments has been described in the above-mentioned U.S.P-4,928,808, when the bottles are deflected, they will be discharged immediately, and when they are just about to pass through the spraying zone, They are removed from the recess by sensing means and exhaust means. As described in U.S. Patent U.S.P-4,681,209, the exhaust means effectively exhausts the deflected containers into a collector located beside the side wall of the chute. In this way, the deflected containers are not will interrupt the operation of the device.

Due to the high demands in the case of strong compressed air jets and the removal of misplaced or skewed bottles from the conveying chute, or the forcing of inclined containers towards the discharge chute, these devices cannot be fully adapted and effectively continuous Conveyance of containers such as bottles at high rates. Due to the container inertia generated by high speed operation, the areas where the bottles stick to the grooves and the side walls of the chute will increase, and these cannot be avoided only by ordinary compressed air devices, but by using expensive and complex and especially noisy device of.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the main purpose of the present invention is to use a single device with With a single external conveyor, the working range of the device is extended.

Another object of the present invention is to improve the above-mentioned existing container or bottle cleaning and positioning devices, overcoming the above-mentioned drawbacks.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for automatically positioning and conveying containers, which may be bottles of various shapes and sizes, which can operate at high speeds and utilize less complex and less air Power consumption to convey a large number of containers, they are continuously provided to the bottle filling line or similar related equipment, where misplaced and / or skewed containers are always excluded from the groove, thereby making all The device operates continuously without interruption.

According to the invention, the aforementioned objects are achieved by increasing the effective length of the container loading area and improving the positioning of the container in this area; due to the inclination of the bottom of the chute, the previous devices had a storage area which was mainly limited by the lower part of the chute. The small loading area of the U.S.P-4,928,808, while the increase in the loading area obtained in the device described in U.S.P-4,928,808 requires a relatively long device involving special installation requirements.

In addition, the main feature of the invention is to provide means, with a new functional principle, to expel containers in incorrectly positioned receiving grooves, before they reach the discharge zone, without the need for spraying devices or at least with reduced compression Powered by air, the spraying device utilizes the inertia of the bottle here.

According to the device of the present invention, it comprises a chute and a storage tank for receiving irregular containers or bottles to be sorted, the chute may have any suitable shape and a bottom having a connection with the chute The side walls are edged at a predetermined distance from the circumference to provide a space through which the container can be dropped. The chute, and in particular the bottom element, can be inclined or frusto-conical, so that containers loaded there move by their gravity towards the lower part. There is a lateral opening on the side wall of the chute at a curved side before the discharge position of the container, and the opening It is mainly suitable for discharging partially accommodated misplaced containers by means of centrifugal force, or pushing out misplaced containers from the holding member and the conveying mechanism, or discharging them to the outside by other containers and conveying them away. A secondary recovery chute located outside the primary or primary chute is connected. A belt conveyor is connected to the external chute so that the rejected containers can be circulated into the loading area before the lateral opening.

In addition, due to the additional effect of centrifugal force, the device of the present invention also has the function of discharging the container through the above-mentioned side opening.

a) The injection device, which is arranged in the chute at a level above the said bottom plane in front of the above-mentioned lateral opening, and has such an orientation that the injection air it produces is injected into the receiving part of the clamping assembly On the correctly positioned bottles in the groove, or make said bottles correctly positioned in the groove or discharge them and push them to the external recovery chute;

b) In addition, at least one rotatable brush is provided, which is also arranged in the vicinity of the area with the above-mentioned lateral opening, the bristles of which brush exert a force on the displaced container from the inside of said chute towards its outside, whereby The container is discharged to the outside of the basic chute.

The device according to the present invention is characterized in that it also comprises:

c) means for tipping containers correctly positioned in the receiving recesses of the gripper assembly into the discharge chute, consisting of spraying devices or other at least one brush whose bristles act on the container body, the resulting force is directed downwards towards the discharge chute;

d) Means for discharging rejected containers out of the chute or containers not unloaded in the unloading zone to the second lateral opening in said side wall, which is located at the movement of the clamping assembly The direction is separated from the above-mentioned unloading area, the device is composed of at least one brush, the pressure generated by the bristles acts on the container body, and the direction of the pressure is from the inside of the chute to the outside;

e) At least one of said receiving grooves or the corresponding discharge chute is provided with a set of brushes for cleaning the inner side walls of the chute below the bottom of said brushes during movement of said groove or discharge chute.

The above and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment.

The present invention is described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a partial perspective view on an enlarged scale of the apparatus of the present invention shown in Figure 2, showing the means for discharging and recovering misplaced containers,

Fig. 2 is the perspective view of preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a partial sectional view of the device shown in Fig. 2;

Figure 4 is similar to Figure 3, showing a cleaning brush;

Figures 5 and 6 are partial sectional views of the device shown in Figure 2, showing the condition of the container being discharged and the brush being overturned;

Figure 7 is a top view of another embodiment of the present invention, suitable for use with a device having a general structure similar to that of U.S.P-4,928,808;

Fig. 8 is a side view of yet another embodiment of the present invention, suitable for use in a device having a general structure similar to that of U.S.P-4,681,209.

Referring to Fig. 2, the device of the present invention comprises a chute 2 having an opening 3 for bulk loading of the containers 1 onto a bottom element 4 whose edge is spaced from the outer wall of the chute 2 so as to provide a The space allows the container to pass therethrough.

Device with non-replaceable parts in a closed system, which is arranged under the above-mentioned bottom 4, including a rotatable disc assembly 30, these are similar to U.S.P-4,681,209 patent (Fig. 3); not shown) drive and then rotate the transmission, it has a shaft 31 connected to the disc assembly 30, some container holding assemblies 6 are movable is installed on the circumference of the rotatable disc 30, and is located between the edge side of the disc 30 and the inner side of the chute wall; a set of grooves 7 for receiving the container in the inverted state; the holding device is The neck of the container is arranged, and in this way the container can be placed in a predetermined position by means of the support 8, while the neck of the container is generally upwards.

A number of discharge chutes and guides 9 are arranged below and aligned with the receiving groove 7, and they cooperate with each other to receive the container and transport the container to the external conveyor 10 in the desired positioning state for filling Pipeline feed.

A height-adjustable positioning plate or annular disk 11 (Fig. 3) is arranged below the groove 7 and above said groove 9, when the container is conveyed by the gripping assembly 6 defined in the receiving groove 7, the The containers are supported by said plate or tray 11, said tray having an opening 50 in the discharge zone 14, so that the containers pass one after the other and fall into said trough 9 by their gravity.

According to the embodiment shown in Figures 2-6, the bottom of the chute consists of a frusto-conical member 4 mounted on a tubular shaft 60 that rotates in the opposite direction to that of the disc assembly 30; The clamping assembly 6 is driven by the shaft 31 in the transmission device 37 , and the assembly 6 is connected with the tube shaft 60 mounted on the shaft 31 through a bearing 62 , only one bearing is shown in FIG. 3 .

Attached at its surface to the wall 3 of the chute is a relatively inclined wall 5, which is a truncated cone with a greater angle of inclination than the bottom 4, in order to receive the The lower part of the groove 7 is close to the bottom 4, and the wall 5 extends from the area 17 in a certain area (see Fig. 2), where the unqualified containers are discharged to the misplaced container cleaning area 13, which greatly increases the safety of the containers. Actual loading area. The wall 5 has an adjustment mechanism, such as a connecting device 5a, in order to set its slope.

Since the rotating shaft 27 of the device is vertical or slightly inclined, the loading area is increased. Plus, this is different from most of the aforementioned existing devices.

The means for clearing or removing incorrectly positioned containers in the receiving groove 7 before they reach the unloading area 14 consist of a lateral opening 32 (see FIGS. 1 and 2 ) located in the chute 2 on the laterally curved side wall in front of the container discharge position, the device for pushing out the misplaced container from the lateral opening 32 out of the chute can be a spray device 33 or at least a brush 18, the brush The bristles contact the body of the container and generate a force from the inside of the chute to the outside.

The discharged containers 34 pass down through the chute 15a into the outer trough 15, which is connected to a lifting device or belt conveyor 16.

The lateral opening 32 is adjusted in depth by means of a plate 35 superimposed on the outer wall 2 of the device and in height by a setting mechanism which passes through the plate 35 on the groove 35a fastening bolt 36.

The length of said opening 32 can cover several grooves 7, the bottom surface of which is substantially parallel to the disc 11 supporting the container 1, the vertical width of the opening 32 being determined by the height of the upper edge of the plate 35 relative to the disc 11, It should be at least equal to half of the corresponding diameter or the maximum width of the container 1 placed in the upside-down state in the groove 7 . In this way, correctly positioned containers in the groove 7 can be effectively kept, while incorrectly positioned containers can be excluded.

The means for tipping the correctly positioned container in the groove 7 into the discharge chute 9 consists of at least one brush 19 (see Figures 2 and 6) and a mechanism (not shown) for driving the brush, said brush The bristles contact the body of the container and generate a downward force.

The means for excluding defective containers from said chute without falling into the unloading zone 14 consist of at least one brush 20, the bristles of which apply a Force, the direction of the force is from the inside to the outside of the chute (see Figure 5).

An automatic transmission 28 or reverse transmission could be used to drive the brushes 18, 19 and 20 alone, in which case the drive 28a would not be required.

The discharge chute 9 consists of two parts, an upper part 21 inclined towards the axis of the device and a substantially vertical lower part 22, an intermediate positioning plate assembly or ring disc 12 which prevents the containers from falling directly into the conveyor 10 is arranged in said two parts 21 and 22, and has an opening (not shown), from which the container can drop to the desired predetermined position of the bottom 70, so as to transfer the container to the external conveyor 10.

The structure of groove 9 can make described passage assembly easy to replace, also can be with U.S.P-4,681,209 described in particular accompanying drawing 8,9 and the structure described in corresponding explanatory part thereof, above-mentioned assembly 6 Shape and structure also can be identical with that shown in accompanying drawing 5,6 and 7 of above-mentioned patent document. For this purpose, the inventor's U.S.P-4,681,209 patent is hereby incorporated by reference.

One of said grooves (see Figure 4) and the corresponding groove 9 can be provided with a set of brushes 23, 24 and 25, in this way used to clean the inner surface of the lower chute of the device during the operation of the brushes.

A wall 26 extending from and mounted on the side wall 2 in said chute delimits said charging area.

The reject brush can have a horizontal, vertical or inclined axis and can be rotated or held stationary.

The movement of the brushes 18 and 20 produces an additional centrifugal effect on the containers, and the spraying means 33 can thereby be replaced, thus having less inertia and force than is known in the prior art to eject misplaced containers out of the loading area.

The action of the brushes 18 also contributes to a stable positioning of the container in the receiving groove 7 .

The bottom 4 of the frusto-conical shape cooperates with the wall 5 of the larger inclination to make the container An optimal distribution is produced in the zone and thanks to the orientation of the opposing walls 4 and 5, the containers can be placed sideways in the recess 7, for which purpose there is an accumulation of containers and an obstacle to the entry of the containers next to the containers Receive groove.

From the above improvements of the present invention, it can be known that the operating speed of the device can be doubled.

Figure 7 corresponds to a device having a general construction according to the inventor's U.S.P-4,928,808 by reference herein, wherein a lateral opening 38 is provided in the curvature of the side wall of the chute before the container discharge position On the surface, in order to use centrifugal force to make the misplaced container pass through the opening 38 and discharge to an external auxiliary chute 39 . The spraying device 40 and the rotating brush 41 with a drive mechanism 42 assist the passage of the container through the lateral opening 38 .

A lifting conveyor 43 recovers the discharged containers to the loading area of the chute.

Figure 8 shows a device for rejecting misplaced containers similar to that described in the inventor's U.S.P-4,681,209 incorporated herein by reference, which includes a lateral opening 44 in the side wall of the chute, which The opening is arranged on the same plane as a series of conveying grooves and placed before the unloading zone, which discharges the containers into an external auxiliary chute 46 with a chute 46a by means of centrifugal force and ejection means which require the power Requiring less power than spraying devices commonly used in the prior art, the chute 46 is connected to a lift conveyor 47 for recycling the discharged containers to the loading area of the chute.

Claims (16)

1. Devices for automatically positioning and feeding containers such as plastic bottles include: Main chute for receiving a large number of containers in an irregular state; The chute has side walls; the bottom of said chute has an annular portion spaced from said side wall to provide a space on said bottom through which said container can pass; a container holding support device having an annular portion disposed below said chute, the annular portion moving in a passage adjacent to the annular portion of said bottom; means for actuating said container holding support means within said channel; a container holding member is arranged on said container holding support means and moves together, the holding member is formed to receive and hold the container in an upside-down shape from said bottom annular portion; The container gripping assembly has a discharge opening allowing containers to pass therethrough; The container support plate extending below the chute supports the inverted container in the receiving groove during the movement of the container holding assembly; The discharge portion of the support tray interrupts the support of the container at a predetermined position, so that the container in the container holding assembly can pass through the opening at the discharge portion; tipping means on said container holding assembly engages a portion of each container to tip the container into a predetermined position as the container passes through the opening at said discharge portion; chute means disposed below and movable relative to said discharge opening for receiving, aligning and guiding containers through the discharge opening into predetermined positions, each chute having a lower outer end; and A conveying device arranged adjacent to said chute for receiving containers from said chute, characterized in that a lateral opening is provided in a bend in the side wall of said main chute, in front of said discharge section On the surface, it discharges incorrectly positioned containers on the container holding assembly by means of centrifugal force to an external recovery chute connected to the lateral opening for receiving containers discharged through the opening , and the discharged containers are circulated into the charging area of the main chute by the conveyor device arranged on the recovery chute. 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the lateral opening in the side wall of the main chute has a length approximately equal to two grooves and has a lower edge extending substantially in a plane , the plane is located at a predetermined distance above said container support plate, so as to effectively keep the container correctly positioned in said groove. 3. Apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising an upper edge adjustably mounted plate on said side wall, which is attached to said side wall by releasable locking means. plate, the locking device can easily adjust the height of the upper edge, and make the upper edge constitute the lower edge of the lateral opening. 4. The device of claim 1, further comprising auxiliary ejection means disposed adjacent said side opening for exerting force on improperly positioned containers on said gripping assembly, and Discharge them from said side opening to said external chute. 5. Apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that said auxiliary discharge means comprises spray means which generate compressed air which acts on the incorrectly positioned container and passes said container through said lateral Opening discharges to the external chute. 6. Device according to claim 4, characterized in that said auxiliary ejection means comprises at least one brush means having bristles which contact the incorrectly positioned container to generate a force acting on said container, The direction of this force is directed from the inside of the main chute towards the lateral opening. 7. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The bottom of the chute is in the shape of a truncated cone; means for rotating said base in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of said clamping assembly; an inclined wall element is provided on said side wall, which element extends from the space adjacent to the charging area to the space adjacent to said lateral opening in a spaced manner from the bottom of said chute; said inclined wall elements and the bottom of the chute form a container guiding space to create said container receiving groove; and, Said inclined wall elements are adjustably mounted to accommodate different shapes and sizes of containers to be transported by adjusting their inclination. 8. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that it also includes means at said discharge opening for applying force to the container in the correct position, the means comprising at least one brush means having a A downward force on the container causing the container to tip over into the chute. 9. The device according to claim 1, further comprising a second lateral opening spaced apart from said discharge opening on said side wall and along the direction of movement of said clamping assembly, so that The container is thereby discharged, and there is at least one brush device near the second opening, the bristles of which contact the containers still on the holding assembly, such as those misplaced, and generate a force acting on the containers, the force towards the second lateral opening, whereby the container is expelled from the second lateral opening. 10. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising motor drive means controllably connected to said brush means to drive said brush means. 11. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising motor drive means controllably connected to said brush means to drive said brush means. 12. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising motor drive means controllably connected to said brush means to drive said brush means. 13. The device according to claim 1, wherein said chute means comprises an upper part inclined towards the axis of the device and a vertical lower part, an intermediate positioning plate is arranged between said upper part and lower part, whereby Prevent containers from falling directly from above to below. 14. The device according to claim 1, further comprising brushes arranged in at least one groove and corresponding chute means, during the movement of said container holding support means, the brushes and The inner side wall of the chute contacts and clears the inner side wall. 15. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said container holding support means and said chute bottom each rotate about a vertical axis. 16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said container holding support means and said chute bottom each rotate about an inclined axis.

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